Trimpin: The Sound of Invention

Not a composer, but an inventor of genius was Arnold Schoenbergs description of John Cage, and the phrase is even more apt for Seattle-based, German-born Trimpin, subject of Peter Esmondes doc. As an artist, Trimpins staked out territory where sculpture, installations, computer technology, and musical instruments overlap, continuing Cages legacy of finding beautiful sounds where no one else would think to look, his DIY, tinkering-in-the-garage spirit, and his unflappable, unaggressive demeanor. Probably his best-known work, locally, is his spectacular tower of self-playing guitars at EMP; Esmonde takes us concisely through the project from conception to completion. He visits a few of Trimpins other constructions as wellthe locations of which are never identified. Its an irritation that grows more acute the more beguiling the work; Id gladly travel to see Trimpins Seismofon, arrays of tuned tubes strung across some ceiling somewhere played by automated clappers that respond to Internet-posted earthquake databut where is it? Is it still up? (Yeah, I could Google it, but thats no excuse for Esmonde not including any informational captions.) The Seismofons warmly woody ripplingimagine that the Close Encounters aliens had a marimba band on that trippy starshipis a prime example of Trimpins guiding belief that sound is always the end, gadgetry the means; no matter how intricate his machines, the music that travels from them to your ear is whats most enthralling. (NR) GAVIN BORCHERT